I just finished reading Jemima Rohekar's Article shown in CNNIbn website. Since one of the comments calls me (not specifically, but in a general way) a racist, I think I should respond.
So, ‘Are Delhiites Xenophobic?’ I did not know the meaning of that word yesterday- Xenophobic, which apparently means ‘fearing or hating anyone who's different’, and thanks to the reporter, now I do. The article says that house owners in Delhi refrain from giving houses to foreigners/outsiders, more importantly people of different color, race and/or religion. And this makes them Racial Discriminators. The article with caption, ‘Racist Capitol?’, goes on about saying how the ‘CNNibn mission’ to get a place for a Nigerian who is ‘educated and working in an MNC’ failed because the house owners had the idea of outsiders associated with some anti-social activities (Are some outsiders involved in anti-social activities?!?). And that makes them ‘Obviously’ Racial Discriminators.
I did not know that my father was racist. He once refused to have a man as tenant, because the guy was known to be a gambler and poor at it too. At least, this was the reason he told me. Now when I think about it, may be my father refused, because the guy was not from our caste or he has darker than us, or he had a different shoe size or may be a combination of these. Yes, that must be the reason. My father racially discriminated a man, even though his ‘friends’ proclaimed him as a very good guy, and one of his friends was a pack of 52 cards, because my father felt it was foolish to trade with a poor gambler. Oh wait, that would make every sane person I know in this world a racist. But maybe that’s true… Oh Dammit…Even in crazy world, this does not make any sense.
Come on, Jemima Rohekar. I am sure you attended college which had subjects that dealt with literature and politics at some level. So you must have read quite a bit about what constitutes racism and what makes simple common sense. There are lot of ways make sure that your article sets fire in the reader’s heart (no pun intended), but going out of your way to label your country men racist is a bit too low even for a typical journalist of modern era. When people say that today’s media has become a part of the corrupt system’s team of hacks, journalists like you erupt with rage against generalization , but what about the antics you follow just to get people read your rhetoric?.
It seems that the reporter was not satisfied with turning a simple human behavior into an act of universal evil which, even if provides good number of hits to the site, must be not be tolerated. Statements such as ‘Kashmiris, Muslims and of course hundreds of foreign students… are not welcome in Delhi’ sound as though she is just too desperate.
By my understanding, people just want to stay out of trouble. If my friend asks me to give him/her my wallet, I won’t necessarily hesitate, but if I feel there is something fishy, I have every right to make my own decision irrelevant of their caste, color or whatever. I don’t want to come off as rude, but if someone out there wants to stamp my actions by their own crazy list of commandments, then “F*@K YOU!”
I wasn’t having any plans of doing this, to be honest, but the forces that drive my emotional chariot had the better of me this time. Comments in the CNNIbn article by Aby and Girish have returned me to the blog world. Thanks a lot you ignorant fools.
